Data networks, such as wireless communication networks, have to trade off between services customized for a single terminal and services provided to a large number of terminals. For example, the distribution of multimedia content to a large number of resource limited portable devices (subscribers) is a complicated problem. Therefore, it is important for network operators, content retailers, and service providers to have a way to distribute content and/or other network services in a fast and efficient manner and in such a way as to increase bandwidth utilization and power efficiency.
A multi-frequency network (MFN) is a network in which one or more radio frequencies (RFs) (or RF channels) are used to transmit media content. One type of MFN is a horizontal multi-frequency network (HMFN) in which a distribution waveform is transmitted over the same or different RF channels in different local areas. The same or different content may be transmitted as part of the distribution waveform carried over the one or more RF channels in such local areas. Another type of MFN is a vertical MFN in which multiple RF channels are used in a given local area to transmit independent distribution waveforms with an aim to increase the capacity of the network (in terms of the ability to deliver more content to a device/end user). An MFN deployment may comprise a VMFN in certain areas and a HMFN in certain other areas.
In a typical VMFN, a local operations infrastructure (LOI) comprises transmitting sites that operate to transmit multiple distribution waveforms over multiple RF channels in a selected geographic area. Each distribution waveform may comprise one or more content flows that can be selected at a receiving device for rendering. Adjacent LOIs may utilize the same or different RF channels.
Generally, content distribution in an MFN occurs over one or more RF channels that may utilize different signaling parameters (SPs) including physical layer parameters in different LOIs. The SP information describes a variety of transmission characteristics that may be associated with RF channels in the MFN. Thus, the SP information may be different across RF channels carried in the same or different LOIs in an MFN. Therefore, a device attempting to receive content on a particular RF channel would need to utilize the appropriate SP information for that RF channel to receive the content.
Typically, as a device moves from region to region in an MFN, an RF handoff is performed to allow the device to switch between available RF channels that carry desired content flows. These available RF channels may belong to different LOIs, and may utilize different SP information. A device may also perform an RF handoff to another RF in the current LOI to acquire desired content flows. To facilitate handoff, a device may actively monitor RF channels in the current and neighboring regions to determine whether these RF channels can be received with adequate signal strength to perform a handoff. Note that an RF channel determined to have strong signal strength during RF monitoring may not necessarily carry the desired distribution waveform. The knowledge of SP information may improve the effectiveness of RF monitoring by eliminating those RF channels which have strong signal strength but do not carry the desired distribution waveform. Typically, an initialization mechanism is provided to allow a device to tune to a selected RF channel and obtain the SP information associated with that RF channel. The SP information can then be used to determine transmission characteristics of the RF channel in order to receive desired content flows on that RF channel. This process may add additional latency to the RF handoff process. For example, in an MFN having multiple RF channels, it may be necessary for a device to tune to several RF channels to obtain their associated SP information in order to receive desired content flows. Unfortunately, this process is not efficient from a device power consumption perspective and also not desirable from an end user experience perspective.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system that operates to allow a device to obtain SP information associated with RF channels in a MFN to facilitate RF channel monitoring and handoff.